Truckers' drive time will likely remain extended

WASHINGTON — Long-haul truck drivers can continue to spend as many as 11 hours a day behind the wheel, after a federal agency refused to return to lower limits sought by safety advocates.

The Transportation Department, in an interim rule issued Tuesday, sided with the trucking industry and upheld a 2004 increase in daily driving time from 10 hours. The rule also keeps a 14-hour daily limit for drivers to be on duty.

"There have been a lot of allegations and innuendo" about greater safety risks since the longer workdays began, said John Hill, the top federal trucking regulator. "What the data show is that is untrue."

The rule is a win for the American Trucking Association trade group, whose members include United Parcel Service Inc. and YRC Worldwide Inc. Trucking companies said shorter workdays boost costs by requiring more drivers to move the same amount of freight, while consumer groups such as Public Citizen said drivers who work fewer hours were less likely to have accidents.

The new rule also permits drivers reaching 60 hours on-duty in seven days to return to work after 34 hours. Before 2004, they had to wait seven days.

Public Citizen will challenge the rule in court if the final version retains the longer driving hours, said Joan Claybrook, president of the Washington-based organization. Regulators could publish the final rule next year, she said.

"It's time for them to bite the bullet and realize that the working conditions for truck drivers are out of step for everything else in America," Claybrook said. "These are rolling time bombs on the highway."

The ATA called the decision to uphold the longer work hours "an important contribution to highway safety." The rule has "led to a reduction in deaths and injuries over the last several years," said Bill Graves, chief executive of the Arlington, Va.-based group.

The revision unveiled Tuesday is the second rewrite of changes in the hours-of-service rule under President Bush's administration. Both previous versions failed court challenges, first in 2004 and most recently in July. The rule was allowed to remain in force until Dec. 27, pending revision.

The Teamsters union, which has opposed the extended driving time, criticized the rule.

"The Bush administration is recklessly endangering the lives of all Americans driving on our highways," Jim Hoffa, the union's general president, said in a statement. "Longer hours for truck drivers behind the wheel" put motorists and others at risk, he said.

Hill, who leads the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said regulators had been collecting safety data since truckers got the extra hour of daily driving time. That research showed that safety hadn't been harmed, he said.